Friday, May 28, 2010

Summer Reading Recommendations

With summer coming up, and therefore a large number of bloggers having a sudden boost in reading time, I figured it would be a great time to showcase some books I personally recommend. I'll be posting a few titles a week I recommend, and at least at first I will try to lump them by genres until it gets into the ones that are hard to place or I simply want to keepgoing. This week's focus is dystopian.

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien: Set in the future after a devastating climate change, Birthmarked sets up a distant but very realistic world. The growth and development of the entire world created is phenomenal, touching into science without going overboard and holding an intriguing and well paced plot. Even for those who often find themselves unable to get into a dystopian novel, Birthmarked holds a certain finesse and appeal.The Maze Runner by James Dashner: A creative set up with colorful characters, The Maze Runner has a way of pulling a reader in from the start. Bold, vivid writing slips the reader into the book, keeping them on scene at all times. Clues placed throughout the book will keep the reader's mind turning.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: Book 1 in the Chaos Walking series, followed by the already released The Ask and The Answer and the upcoming Monsters of Men, TKONLG is a very stylistic and engaging read. With a fantastic dialect and playing very significantly on plenty of real events in world history, this book is great way to spend the summer hours. I'd recommend having book 2 in hand, as TKONLG ends up a jaw dropping cliff hanger. The Ask and The Answer further builds the world already set up in TKNOLG and the character development as well as events are astounding.

Though these are all relatively recent titles, not every post will be only new. Some will spotlight older books so make sure you don't miss them! Check back next Thursday (the day this was supposed to go up but things happen sometimes) for some more recommendations!